Golden Stem reaches 20" tall. Vigorous grower that may be continually harvested through out the season.

Extremely ornamental making it a great border in edible gardens. One of the best tasting chards and extremely rare today.

Swiss chard has an excellent source of vitamin A on account of its concentrated beta-carotene content. Once inside the body, beta-carotene can be converted into vitamin A, so when you eat Swiss chard, it's like getting both these beneficial nutrients at once. One cup of Swiss chard contains just 35 calories, but provides 109.9% of the daily value for vitamin A.

Seed Planting Depth

Seeds per gram

Germination Temperature

Days to Germination

Row Spacing

Plant Spacing

100' Row Yield

Sun

1/2"

55-60

55-65

5-7

18"

8"

200 lb.

Full

Beta vulgaris

Planting Tips for Heirloom Chard:

Heirloom chard is a leafy vegetable that makes a good alternative to spinach. Growing heirloom chard can be easier than growing spinach as it is better able to withstand higher/lower temperatures and droughts. As well as its value as a food crop Swiss Chard also has a very striking value as an ornamental plant and many times it appears in a gardens ornamental borders or ornamental pots. Heirloom chard is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals.

Preparation: Turn over the soil and dig in some well composted manure a number of weeks before sowing. This will help soil moisture retention and soil aeration. Make sure to break up any large clods of soil with your fork and rake the soil to obtain a fine soil structure in which to plant your Chard seeds.

Sowing: Heirloom chard is normally sown directly into the soil. Sow the Chard seed in rows around 45cm apart and about 5 cm apart. The seeds should be sown at around 1/2" depth. The plants will need thinning. If left until around 8" in height before thinning then the thinned plants can be treated like an early harvest and the young leaves will be extremely tender and tasty.Chard doesn't like a soil that is too acidic, an acidic soil will stunt growth. Chard grows well in a soil of around 6.5 - 6.8.

Seeding Rate for Heirloom Chard:

150,000 plants/acre, aproximately 5 lb.

Heirloom seeds are hardy but always take care with your garden seeds to give them the appropriate amount of moisture - not letting the vegetable seeds dry out prematurely or overwatering and possibly having them rot.

Chard Stalk Hummus

Conventional Swiss chard stalks will make a classic white hummus, while red or rainbow chard stalks will make a pink or yellow hummus.

MAKES 1 CUP

Ingredients

2 cups chopped chard stalks

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup tahini

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Juice of 1 lemon

Swirl of olive oil

Chopped fresh parsley for garnishing

Instructions:

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the chard stalks and boil for 5 to 10 minutes (depending on how thick they are) until the stalks are very soft.

Drain well, squeezing out any excess water, and add the stalks to a food processor, along with the garlic, tahini, salt, and lemon juice. Pulse continuously until the dip is slightly chunky and still has some bite to it, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Serve with a generous swirl of oil on top and a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley, if desired.

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This recipe was provided by The CSA Cookbook by Linda Ly. This new cookbook is your go to for "no waste recipes for cooking your way through a community supported agriculture box, farmers market, or backyard bounty". It features a plethora of vegetable recipes for every season

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Customer Reviews

Author: Mary C
They are not exaggerating in the description of &quot;vigorous grower&quot;. I keep cutting this for use and it keeps growing back even bigger and fuller. Wonderful flavor raw or cooked.

Monte Calme Yellow grows to 5-6 feet in height with 12-14 leaves to the crowfoot. The leaves are a dark green with light colored stems, and grow up to 30 inches long and 20 inches wide. It produces some of the largest and heaviest leaf found in Burley varieties.